New Orleans flooding prompts City Council to schedule special meeting

Updated on Aug 06, 2017 at 08:09 PM CDT

Josiah Youngblood worked a 12-hour night shift till 9 am Sunday morning before heading to Metropolitan Baptist Church on North Tonti Street to help with flood cleanup. He tries to take a quick nap in the pews during a break on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Parts of New Orleans were still drying out from an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Ryan Berni, a spokesman for New Orleans City Hall, talks about the flooding from Saturday, August 5, 2017. He addressed the pumping stations and cleanup efforts underway. With him is Aaron Miller, left, Director of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness, and Cedric Grant, right, New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board Executive Director. They spoke in front of City Hall on Sunday, August 6, 2017. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Sweeping flood debris out the door at Willie Mae's Restaurant on St. Ann Street in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Simba Marvin and Brotha T. walk past flooded conga drums as they clean out their apartment on St. Ann Street in New Orleans. New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Mark Cruz cleans out a drain outside the Busy Bee convenience store on Orleans Avenue. New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
(Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Sweeping flood debris out the door at Willie Mae's Restaurant on St. Ann Street in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Bob Humphrey uses a wet vac to drain the water from the inside of his 2012 Chevrolet Camaro on Orleans Avenue. He dumps the water onto the driveway at his house. New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Enrique Martinez stands on his sidewalk near Orleans Avenue where his street was still flooded in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Bobby Roth Jr., center, owner of The Steak Knife on Harrison Avenue in New Orleans, looks at a wall of photos showing his place when it flooded during Hurricane Katrina. Some of his staff, right, walk out the door after spending the day cleaning up and removing wet carpet from his restaurant on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. He said he hopes to open back up by the middle of this coming week. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Bobby Roth Jr., owner of The Steak Knife on Harrison Avenue in New Orleans, stands in a doorway near a dining room where wet carpet was removed on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Chairs to one side of the room as carpet was removed inside The Steak Knife on Harrison Avenue in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. Bobby Roth Jr., owner of the restaurant, said he plans to reopen in the middle of the coming week. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Jackie Gross, center, and Amanda Daly, right, both servers at Reginelli's Pizzeria on Harrison Avenue, use a wet vac and mop to clean up the remaining floodwater in their restaurant on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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With floodwater still on his street Bob Humphrey uses a wet vac to drain the water from the inside of his 2012 Chevrolet Camaro on Orleans Avenue. New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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A pair of new white shrimp boots on the steps leading into the home of Bob Humphrey and Lynn Boudreaux as they cleanup around their house on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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A sign scribbled onto a metal box as floodwaters lingers on the street as New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Wet clothes and a canoe on the steps of a New Orleans home near Urusuline Avenue on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Parlay's Bar manager Michael Gonczi moves a floor fan around the pool table as he and staff dry out the bar to open on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Pastor Rufus Bonds, center, surrounded by years of photos of his congregation at Metropolitan Baptist Church as he takes a break from flood cleanup at his church on North Tonti Street on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Parts of New Orleans were still drying out from an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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An American flag lies on a pew to avoid it from getting wet in the flood as Pastor Rufus Bonds, right, of Metropolitan Baptist Church on North Tonti Street look around on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Parts of New Orleans were still drying out from an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Eric Zimmerman takes another sip of a beer as he stands next to his car and a neighbor's car. The vehicles were originally parallel parked on Orleans Avenue, but the power of the flood waters pushed and turned them backwards toward their homes. New Orleans residents and businesses spent Sunday, August 6, 2017 cleaning up following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Two New Orleans houses are reflected in floodwater where lots of debris was scattered across St. Peter's street on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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A manhole cover was washed away in the middle of Orleans Avenue as New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Pastor Rufus Bonds, right, of Metropolitan Baptist Church looks at the pile of musical instruments still wet with floodwater at his church on North Tonti Street on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Parts of New Orleans were still drying out from an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Sweeping flood debris out the door at Willie Mae's Restaurant on St. Ann Street in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
(CHRIS GRANGER)

Sweeping flood debris out the door at Willie Mae's Restaurant on St. Ann Street in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Willie Mae's Restaurant on St. Ann Street in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Cleaning and drying out a stranded truck on the higher neutral ground on Orleans Avenue in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Osman Barahona, right, opens his refrigerator that fell onto its side and blocked entry into his kitchen after his apartment flooded on Orleans Avenue in New Orleans. Residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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A toy on the front of Enrique Martinez's truck is surrounded by debris after he drove through the vehicle through flooded streets near Orleans Avenue where his street was still flooded in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Fadi Abuali, owner of Busy Bee Food Store on Orleans Avenue, uses a small fan to dry out his store in New Orleans on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. He said he stayed at his store till 2 am because he couldn't leave due to the flooded streets. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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Mark Cruz cleans out a drain outside the Busy Bee convenience store on Orleans Avenue. New Orleans residents and businesses clean up on Sunday, August 6, 2017 following an unexpectedly heavy rain on Saturday. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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The New Orleans City Council will hold a special meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 8) to discuss the flooding that resulted from as much as 9 inches of rain falling in parts of the city Saturday afternoon. It was the second extreme downpour in as many weeks that put storm water in vehicles, homes and businesses in multiple neighborhoods.

President Jason Williams summoned council members Sunday to call the meeting. Officials with the Landrieu administration, the Sewerage and Water Board, and the Army Corps of Engineers are expected to respond to questions about the city's vulnerability to quick inundations.

Council members met with the mayor's office Sunday morning for a briefing on its flood response, but District A representative Susan Guidry said questions still remain. Her district includes two of the harder hit areas, Mid-City and Lakeview, which both experienced flooding during a July 22 storm when 4 inches of rain came down within a few hours.

Williams said the council seeks definitive answers on whether the city's 24 drainage pumps were working, the status of catch basins in all neighborhoods and whether the city had cleaned them before the storm, and whether drainage canals had been pumped out.

He expressed specific concerns about flooding along North Broad Street, where storm water entered the Broad Theater and the headquarters for the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, among other buildings. Noting that the theater is just yards away from a city pumping station, he said he wants to know if anything has changed in the area that has seldom experienced plumbing in the past.

Zulu President Naaman Stewart told the council president he recalls instances when the rain in Mid-City has been as heavy as Saturday's, but this is the first time that the group's building has flooded, Williams said.

"Something is very different in that area," Willams said.

Deputy Mayor Ryan Berni and Sewerage and Water Board executive director Cedric Grant said earlier Sunday that all information indicates the city's drainage pumps were functioning properly. The flooding, they said, was the result of having so much rain fall in such a short period of time.

Councilwoman Nadine Ramsey said she wants an explanation on why the city's major outfall canals and pumping stations aren't used during heavy storms like Saturday's.

Construction continues on permanent infrastructure at the Lake Pontchartrain end of the 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue canals. The Corps of Engineers still controls the facilities and levees that are designed to reduce the city's exposure to surge from tropical storms.

The mayor's office issued a 3 p.m. statement that included rainfall totals from various parts of the city from Saturday:

Mid City: 9.43 inches

St. Bernard: 5.74 inches

St. Roch: 5.62 inches

Broadmoor: 5.49 inches

City Park: 4.96 inches

Lakeview: 4.71 inches

Gentilly: 3.94 inches

Lower 9th Ward: 3.64 inches

Hollygrove: 2.07 inches.

Lower Coast Algiers: 1.54 inches

New Orleans East: 0.74 inches

Tow trucks were out clearing vehicles that had stalled during the flooding, according to the city's statement.

"Residents with stranded vehicles in the middle of the roadway or an intersection are expected to move their vehicles to the side of the road, preferably a parking lane, immediately," the statement said.

Police or Public Works trucks may have to "courtesy tow" vehicles to the side of the road or bring them to the city's impound lot at 400 N. Claiborne Ave., but residents will not be charged to retrieve vehicles. Owners must present their ID to pick up their vehicles. Lot hours are 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Motorists are being allowed to park on the neutral ground until midnight Sunday as long as they don't block intersections or streetcar tracks. The city wants them cleared so that transit and regular traffic can resume Monday.